His eye-popping CNN interview with radio host Alex Jones Monday night combined two of Piers Morgan‘s great passions: gun-control policy and things that bring notoriety to Piers Morgan.

I have no doubt that Morgan’s interest in gun control is deep and genuine: he was ardently on the case after the Aurora shooting last summer, and has been again since the Sandy Hook massacre. But as Morgan’s introduction itself spelled out, the impetus for bringing on Alex Jones–popular right-wing radio host, 9/11 truther and general conspiracist–is that Jones was behind a petition to deport Morgan back to Britain for advocating gun restrictions.

Morgan, who jousts with relish on air and on Twitter, is not one to pass up a good feud. In summer 2011, when former senate candidate Christine O’Donnell walked off his set, he did a follow-up show about the walk-off incident, CNN re-ran the segment in prime time and, after I wrote that Morgan and the network were milking the controversy, Morgan had me on a panel to talk about whether he was milking the controversy.

Well, OK: whatever the reasons for booking Jones, it’s possible that a controversy can both raise your profile and raise an important debate. All that this interview raised, though, were questions about how many screws Jones has loose. Part 1 of the “interview”–or harangue with attempts at questions–is at the top of this post; here’s part 2:

Absolutely, it was compelling TV. Watching a blowhard without filters go X-Files all over a national news show usually is. And hoo boy, did Jones oblige! He shouted over Morgan beginning to end. He challenged Morgan to a boxing match. (“I’ll wear red, white and blue and you can wear your Jolly Roger,” because evidently Morgan is not only British but a pirate.) When Morgan managed to work in a question like, “How many gun murders were there in Britain?” Jones answered, “How many great white sharks kill people and yet they’re afraid to swim?” Check and mate!

Jones blamed mass murders on “suicide mass-murder pills”–psychiatric drugs whose effects the pharma companies Don’t Want You to Know About. He alluded to the 9/11 inside-job conspiracy that the CIA Doesn’t Want You To Know About. He argued that Americans need semi-automatic weapons to defend themselves against the government or it would go all Mao and Stalin on us. For his grand finale, he compared 9/11 to the Reichstag Fire in a mocking British accent, concluding, “Go back to where they took the guns if you don’t like it! The communists–” before CNN went to commercial and, I can only assume, he bounced off to the horizon, Daffy-Duck-style.

So who outside the room benefited from this? Morgan got a buzzed-about interview and, as he’s said himself, an opponent who made the anti-gun-control side sound totally unhinged. Jones got to bring his rants to a cable-news audience and, I’ll bet, came off to his fans as a truth-telling hero striking from within the heart of the Borg. (I should note here that TIME and CNN are both sister companies in Time Warner, all of us wholly owned subsidiaries of the Borg.)

And CNN watchers got…? Well, Jones does have a big following, and now they know what he’s telling his listeners, so I guess there was some informational value there.

Still, I doubt it’s news to CNN viewers that there is a brisk tinfoil business in America. This was Reality TV news: the kind of journalism that, in the name of “getting people to pay attention,” turns over an argument to people glad to embody their most outlandish caricatures and affirm their opponents’ biggest stereotypes. (Morgan, to his credit, kept his tone civil and even subdued, maybe realizing his subject was already gladly, er, shooting himself in the foot.)

Yes, there are some real extremists out there defending unrestricted gun ownership. If you already support tighter gun regulations–as I do, living in a city with strict gun laws and a record-low murder rate–congratulations: you and I may now feel 75% more superior after watching Alex Jones.

But there’s an actual, complicated debate to be had here–one that even managed occasionally to escape between the flecks of froth in Jones’ argument. “America was born on guns and whiskey,” he said. “It’s true we are a violent society.” Right there is something to talk about: are there factors beyond access to guns, beyond even modern-day technology and media, things in the national character, that will make Americans more violent than other countries? This isn’t just a gun-nut argument; it was a central question of Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine.

That argument wasn’t going to get made by Jones, though. He was glad to throw up rhetorical dust and appeal to anyone who thinks that yelling the most over your adversary equals winning. But does this get anyone closer to an answer, here in the rest of the world–where there are people who oppose further gun restrictions yet who do not believe the “banks” want to take our guns to impose The New World Order on us?

In the sense of the old “Hey, at least it gets people talking” argument, maybe. But I doubt it got anyone thinking–thinking, that is, anything they didn’t already firmly believe.

I am a former Marine serving from 1957-1960 and received extensive weapons training with the M1-Garand and Browning Automatic Rifle. I grew up in Montana and have been a hunter and gun owner since being a young boy. The Marine weapons training was under realistic and stressful conditions. I have never been an advocate of people owning assault weapons with high capacity clips. There could be nothing more than disastrous than having some well meaning person cut loose with an assault weapon that is not properly trained. It takes an extended period of time to train a person how to use these type of weapons under stressful conditions. The answer is not more weapons or school personnel being armed. Go to a gun show sometime and you will see some real strange people buying these type of weapons. I am sick of hearing of everyone's second amendment rights. Keep in mind our constitution was written when people were armed with muzzle loaders that took a lot of time to reload between shots. Most people that buy assault weapons have not or never will hunt game with them. These weapons are made to hunt and kill people. If more guns are the answer why do the senseless slaughters by demented people increase as gun owner ship increases almost exponentially. I live in Montana and there was a bill introduced in the last legislative session to allow people to carry concealed weapons into banks, bars and other public places. This bill did not make it but came close. It will be introduced again in the just starting Montana legislative session. If it passes I will never go into a bar again and will do all of my banking online. My family has been in the bar business since 1946 and I was heavily involved with it both as a worker and owner. I have seen horrific acts of violence committed in the family bars with clubs, knives, bottles and almost everything except firearms. Most of the people who advocate owning high capacity assault rifles are closet seditionists, nut birds, bullies and fanatics. I hopefully will always own my guns, a lever action hunting rifle and a couple of pistols. I have never seen the need to own a high capacity assault rifle even though my testosterone level is fairly high. Captain Cornell Crawford, Neighborhood Hero, aka Karl Gies

And you all wonder why people from the USA are perceived as being unhinged? Your defense of gun law is insane and the other answer to that is prayer. If I was Piers Id have legged it from your backward country years ago. It's no more forward thinking than the Middle East.

A Georgia mother and her two young children are unharmed after a man broke into their house with a crowbar on Friday, cornering them in an attic crawlspace. The woman was at home with her nine-year-old twins when the doorbell rang. When they didn't answer, the man reportedly went back to his car and returned with a crowbar. The mother said she could see the suspect-- now identified as Paul Slater-- trying to enter the house with the crowbar from her office window. Without hesitation, she grabbed her children, her phone, her gun, and ran upstairs.

One can only imagine the breathless moments after the man broke down the door and began searching the house.

But the man eventually found the family.

"The perpetrator opens that door. Of course, at that time he's staring at her, her two children and a .38 revolver," The woman then shot him five times, but he survived, Chapman said. He said the woman ran out of bullets but threatened to shoot the intruder if he moved.

"She's standing over him, and she realizes she's fired all six rounds. And the guy's telling her to quit shooting," Chapman said.

The woman ran to a neighbor's home with her children. The intruder attempted to flee in his car but crashed into a wooded area and collapsed in a nearby driveway, Chapman said.

Slater-- who was taken to the hospital with punctured lungs, a punctured liver, and a punctured stomach-- has reportedly been arrested six times since 2008.

"My wife is a hero. She protected her kids. She did what she was supposed to do as a responsible, prepared gun owner," [the woman's husband] Donnie Herman said.

He said he's thankful for his family's safety.

"Her life is saved, and her kids' life is saved, and that's all I'd like to say," Herman said.

Commenters have overwhelmingly agreed with the husband thus far-- one Savannah Morning News reader even posting a similar story illustrating the importance of the woman's firearm.

In the other report, after an unarmed woman's home was robbed, ​she​ was the one who ended up in the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds

Thank you for exposing this Jones, but next time, if you ever get a next time, do it a bit more calmer. I understand how bad the situation is, but to explain this to the American people like this...eh...not sure if they'll catch on like your supporters. But, nice job exposing this material.

That's entertainment. Here's a tidbit. Time Warner gave Jones his start. The tv cable franchise in Austin was awarded by the city to Time Warner back in the '80s. It was a monopoly. Part of the agreement was that Time Warner provide public access for any citizen to broadcast whatever they wanted. Time Warner provided the equipment, space, all costs of public broadcasts by whoever wanted their own local tv program.

Those studios is where Jones got his start, paid for in full by Time Warner.

James, I know you felt a certain journalistic responsibility to write about Piers and Alex, but I really wish you had been more protective of your regular readers. Because now not only do I know there are nuts like Alex out there - I also know that he has an entire constituency, a percentage of whom seem to have found your post and seen fit to stand up for him. There are times, dear James, when I prefer to live in a fantasy land in which everyone witnessing Alex's diatribe utters a chorus of "Whaaaaaaat????? and "OMFG!" Not 300+ people (and I didn't read them all - apologies to those on my side of the aisle that I didn't get to) insisting that "Alex is right all the way" or words to that effect.

To those of you who think Alex makes sense - well, there really isn't anything cogent one can say, is there? And James, I still love you.

You can call people whatever you want. Alex is right on all the way and this is also why Piers had almost nothing to say back on most everything Alex brought up. Piers needs to just be put in his place and Alex did that for good reasons. The elitist regime in this world is EVIL and Alex is not going to be scared of them. We need to have people like Alex.

Morgan's real name isn't Morgan. It's O'Meara. Ironically, he's of Irish stock, just brought up in the UK. O'Meara's doing what a lot of immigrants into the USA have done -- changed his surname. As for the so-called debate, there wasn't one. Jones was idiotic and raging, like he had escaped from the looney bin. Morgan couldn't get a word in edgeways. When Jones said he'd adopt the red, white and blue, I thought he was talking about the Union Flag, which is a helluva lot older than the Stars and Stripes.Still, Jones shot himself in both feet, which will do wonders for the gun lobby.

Freedom of expression is a bedrock principle in your society? So is the 2nd amendment. Hypocritical much?

Whilst I don't agree with the explosiveness of his delivery, banning guns isn't the way to do things. And he does raise good points. He just has a lot of passion. If you do some research for yourself this is very clear. People in favor of banning guns are simply favoring emotion over statistics. The math is never wrong.

"Journalist" Jones? Really? Obviously he's the dumbest "journalist" extant if he thinks we should start deport people for following the first amendment right to free speech. If we can deport someone for exercising the First Amendment, we can certainly show Mr. Jones the border for exercising the Second Amendment can't we? After all, those that live by the sword, DIE by the sword.

Wow. I looked up some of the stuff Alex was shouting about. HE SHOULD BE MAD!!! Our goverment admits staging false attacks against our country in the past. It is not a conspiracy. They have established attacking civilians as a precedent to entering wars on a larger scale! Thank you for opening my eyes CNN by having Alex on your program

why are people so quick to judge alex jones? Go watch the full interview on YouTube and do some research on the topics he mentioned on google...all you have to do is lift your finger and verify his claims. But no. People simply like to label someone as a nutcase conspiracy nut and insert their snazzy jokes in the comments section in total denial of the facts they just heard.

The problem with Alex Jones views is that there lies some truth in it. A most senior air traffic controller told a partner of mine, that when one of these offsprings of these 200 year old financial dynasties takes to the skies, they have have make room for them- pronto. Even the mighty Air Force has to obey and make room. Its like closing down Brooklyn Bridge in rush hour, just so that these toffs can travel "safely"...

Thank you Alex for standing up for the truth for all Americans, even if many do not even understand! Maybe this will encourage them to break the stronghold propaganda and conditioning have on them and question the bought out mainstream media enough to research the facts for themselves. These are dark times but there is still hope for us.

Time is a shill company run by the elites. They delete comments by people who they don't like what they say about their paymasters. They portray stories like Alex jones as some crazy conspiracy nut when in truth people have not even bothered to research most of the things he said live on tv by doing simple google searches. This story is a cover up. They want you to think its funny and a joke "oh look some crazy guy is shouting at piers Morgan" so that you don't take his comments seriously and to discredit and label hard working investigative people who do real investigation on corruptions and conspiracies than the media do in the whole year.

OK just so I have this right. You have one media mouth piece advocating
the right to bear arms and in doing so asking that the leaders of the
nation-state, he claims is corrupt, to violate another media mouth piece
the right of free speech.

This is pretty good example of how the
need to fill 24 hour a day programming in the TV industry and its
competitiveness produces so little of value in our country today.

While
this may have been a wonderful comic scene played out on a show like
Saturday Night Live, I find it presence in the arena of "News
Broadcasting" baffling to say the least.

O dear Jesus, cover our nation with Your most precious protection. Forgive us our sins against God’s Commandments. Help the American people to turn back to God. Open their minds to the True Path of the Lord.

Unlock their hardened hearts, so that they will welcome Your Hand of Mercy. Help this nation to stand up against the blasphemies, which may be inflicted upon us to force us to deny Your Presence.

We beseech you, Jesus, to save us, protect us from all harm and embrace our people in Your Sacred Heart. Amen.

Alex and his listerners and supporters are simply pointing out that theres a bigger plan by the New world Order to disarm America, so that we our ripe for total control. There are Fema camps out there ready to accomadate the masses, tons of ammunition to prepare for civil unrest. I mean come on people do your own research and take off your rosy sunglasses.

Just open up the book of Revelation in the Bible it doesn't take a genious to know that the times we are in are transitory period.

@ctg In the UK there is a law that allows protection. It allows "reasonable force" and that means using weapons where necessary. But there is a "duty of care" not sure if it's in the US, and that means that you must call the police and ambulance. However, the lack of gun deaths in the UK is no coincidence though the lack of gun deaths in Sweden, despite having more guns per capita ithan the US s more confusing.

Oh, and after reading through this thread further, neither would a UK comment section be full of manic religious expression. You'd be bombed out of there before you know it. Please try to find some perspective.

@TheDisclosure Alex Jones is a shill. Have you ever heard the crazy advertisements played during his program? He is sucking off the fear and paranoia of a few million lonely people who really want to believe that the end times are here and that they need to buy delicious, delicious gold and silver... or else!

I actually used to listen to this guy, for the laughs mostly, but let's not pretend that he's offering serious information.

If you don't like the "elitists", it means you're not elite, means you're not smart, threfore discredit everything you say. And maybe you need other idiots so that you don't feel alone, but, really, we don't need others like him...

@erniecolorado1 Alex is not right on all the way. Call me crazy, but in order to be convinced I need to see some type of evidence, not just a bunch of loosely connected lunacy screamed at the top of someone's lungs.

What makes me laugh is Jones' penchant for declaring that the globalists have put a hit out on him, and that if he suddenly disappears or gets shot on the side of the road you'll know who did it! He does it often (and I do listen to his wild show sometimes, mostly for the laughs), and he did it after this "interview" with Morgan, claiming that some sort of black clad shock troops were following him, etc, and that if he gets killed by a crackhead it's really the globalists. This is a direct ripoff of Howard Stern's old FCC routine, albeit a much more paranoid and delusional version.

Alex Jones is laughing all the way to the bank and you're lapping it up exactly the like the brainwashed people he talks about. Ahh, what delightful irony.

@erniecolorado1 actually he had almost nothing to say because Alex was yelling over him throughout the entire "interview". Piers would ask a question and Alex would reply, if he replied at all, with something no one was talking about. "sharks kill people! There is no metal shark in the water." If he displayed this same behavior on the streets, he would have already been institutionalized.

@MarkusWall alex did not shoot himself. he won and made piers nervous. names are irrelevant and you missed the point. I applaud alex's courage. anyone who has the guts to go against the elite is a hero to me. he proved everything in the past. he got firm because piers is wrong and alex knows what he is talking about. that's all I will say about this. millions are SICK AND TIRED of the corruption and mass media corporate greed and evil. So am I! Alex is awesome!

@ctg He's entitled to his opinions on gun control- you can't simply adopt the isolationist, almost racist attitude that because he's British he's a "Jolly Rancher" and thus unfit to cast opinions on a pretty universal topic.

Passion does not equal wisdom. Hitler was passionate. Was he a wise person? Jones display of his inability to have a rational discussion not only hurt his cause but shows that he is a bully and the exact reason why people fear guns in the hands of people like him. There is no need for a hunter to have a 30 round clip. The US Military is not going to invade the US. 9/11 was not an inside job. Private Militias will not keep our country safe. Everyone that needs more than 3 rounds to kill their game is either a really poor shot or should be hunting squirrel and rabbit.

@KatherineKlekota Yes Katherine these are dark times but the biggest solution in which i have been trying to beseech Alex do do for months was to promote PRAYER IN MASS NUMBERS in UNITY, there were specific CRUSADE PRAYERS desinged for the ruling elite to have him then drop down in repentance to GOD.

These people that rule the world pray and they pray devoutly to Lucifer. Why can't we all unite in prayer devoutly bcak to God our Creator.

You want to see the Elite trembling then I suggest go the warningsecondcoming website and by all mean take heed to these meaages and spread the word and the crusade prayers.

@Mike1234567 "They delete comments by people who don't like...." Home schooled are we? I see your comment is still lying here stinking up the room. Alex Jones IS a crazy conspiracy nut. Always was, always will be.

@pl497713@ctg that's not what she means. Don't play the racist card bro. Of course he has a right to voice his opinion, but yeah hey, unemployment is very bad and I know so many super talented anchormen/women who would excel in his position that are out of work not because of talent but because they aren't "in" like so many of us are kicking our butts to get that foot in the door. Must be nice to get fired for illegal hacking breaking privacy laws and receiving a promotion to primetime.

"Amendment IIA well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Although you and I are both peaceful citizens who may or may not bear arms, or buy into what some believe is an aggressive act by a Global coalition to transition the United States into the Interdependent society run by an ever changing face of leadership to constantly shift and maneuver any blame and cause confusion on who pushed this law or that law, we seem to forgive and forget and believe it's a fresh start with a new face. This gun debate has been in place for at least a decade. It's coming to fruition because now is the time for transition. You ever read the copenhagen treaty that was developed in 2009? I honestly have no idea at all where it is in development but anyone who believes that roses are red white and blue, needs their heads checked. we live in a society where we can move from point A to point B and ME PERSONALLY, I would love to see that stay where it is, but the NORMALCY BIAS is one of the single human flaws that stop most people from adapting to change and seeing a bigger picture. I love the beach, I would love to see this a peaceful place for eternity but frankly people buying into the fear mongering of the Media are ruining it for everyone. repealing the 2nd amendment is a HUGE MISTAKE. THis is coming from someone who doesn't have a gun. I don't need one. but sure I have ZERO problem with people buying guns. Where I"m from everyone has guns, everyone respects life, other peoples girlfriends, they protect their privacy, family, well being and some even do yoga. MOst of these guys are also people who don't do drugs. Law abiding citizens.

US military won't invade the states, THe dept of Homeland security is in place for domestic use.ALthough I'm sure there would be a very large percent of conscientious objectors so I have no idea how that would play out. But the most important thing is gun owner or not, we are all together and what we want is the same. PLaying to fears of media just push people to division.

Who knows about 911. I'm a citizen who is fed the same info as you. we are in the middle east with several open and covert wars, and there is a push to engage in more which is a shame. Who knows, I don't.

@JerryBall@Mike1234567 Agreed. All we had to do was see him on TV. He was sitting there, screaming at Piers, refusing to actually answer any of his questions. His British accent at the end was absolutely hilarious, but his views on foreign nationals and immigration are shocking.

@TYW1970@crossinthesky Yes they would. The Afghan's took out the USSR with long guns and horses. And Jesus would have the latest and greatest. He told his disciples to take a sword along with them on their journey. It was state of the art at the time. Any other questions?

@TYW1970@crossinthesky No Guns would not stop a tyrannical govenrment. Prayer will. The Government has mas weoans just like our citizens. Jesus does not need a gun for his word his sharper than a two edge sword.

I personally don't believe in gun control or gun protection. I don't own a gun my wepaon of choice is the Rosary.